Yay for...

So, last night I was reading "A Short History of the World" by J. M. Roberts and I had a great idea for a story/novel.  It was the section about the rise of Athens and the Greek city-state, the polis.  Athens supported herself with trade, bullying other city-states into paying tribute to her and her silver mines, worked by a slave population.

I think a story of one (or more) of the slaves escaping would be totally awesome.  It has all the elements of a cool book:

1. Action, namely this dude getting chased by the 'authorities.'  Yay chariot chases.
2.  He could have been put in the labor camps by a political rival or something, a la "Count of Monte Cristo."  Yay sneaky antagonist.
3.  An underdog to support.  Yay for the hero.
4.  A revenge duel, so it can be long and drawn out with lots of angry dialogue.  And stabbing.  Yay for swords.
5.  And maybe there's a girl whose brother was in the mines, too, but he died and but she doesn't know that and she's looking for him, so meets our erstwhile protagonist.  Yay for smarmy-smarm-smarm.
6.  Greek stuff in general, because antiquity is in vogue lately.  Yay for half-dressed buff dudes.

I already have quite a bit of 'knowledge' about classical Greece, having taken several college classes on it.  But with a bit more research into social structure and some historical events- maybe centered around the Peloponnesian War? - I think I could pull off a pretty cool historical action/adventure plot.

Yay for being a geek.

E.T.

The Landmark Thucydides
A Short History of the World